Reactor mount system



United States Patent 3,139,259 REACTUR MOUNT SYSTEM Wallace A. Geiger, Manchester, and Louis Kudlaciir,

Glastonbury, Conn, assignors to United Aircraft (Jorporation, East Hartford, Conn, a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 21, 1961,5e'r. No. 161,027 9 Claims. (61. 248-318) This invention relates to mounting means for nuclear reactors, transformers, boilers, condensers and other heavy casing-enclosed apparatus which is subjected to extreme temperature changes in operation.

It is an object of this invention to provide improved means for supporting the pressure shell, or casing, of a device of this type which does not require local vesselwall thickening.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for suspending the pressure shell of a device of this type in which all radial loads are accommodated, as well as .large differential thermal growths between the shell and embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings.

In this sheet of drawings: FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a nuclear reactor supported by the mounting means of this invention, parts being broken away to facilitate illustration;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail of FIG. 1 in the vicinity of the mounting lugs;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a detailed side elevation of a shell-carried mounting lug; and

FIG. 5 is a detail of a special lug :for permitting introduction of the locking cable.

Referring to FIGJI, the side wall 11) of a reactor pressure shell is supported from a mount ring 12 by means of a plurality of flexible hanger strips 14 depending from the mount ring 12. As herein shown, the side wall is cylindrical and extends within the circular mounting ring 12, the mounting ring itself being supported by an outer reactor-supporting cylinder (not shown).

Shell 10 is provided with a series of peripheral lugs 16 which are spaced apart about the shell periphery to receive between them lugs 18 formed on the lower ends of straps 14. The lugs 16 are secured to shell 10 by welding, as shown in FIG. 4, and include, at their lower ends, a projecting flange 20 having an inner wall 21 spaced from the side wall of shell 11 to provide a groove 22. The lugs 18 on the ends of strips 14 have left and right extensions 24 and 26 providing a T-shaped formation at their lower ends. Extensions 24- and 26 of each lug 18 are received in the grooves 22 of two adjacent lugs 16. It will be noted from FIG. 2 that the width of lugs 16 is such as to be received loosely between the two adjacent lugs 18 and that the extensions 24, 26 engage the bottoms 23 of grooves 22.

Each lug 16 is further provided with an upstanding flange 25 at its upper end, which is spaced outwardly from the side wall of shell 10 and on its inner face is provided with a semicircular horizontal groove 28. It will be noted from FIG. 4 that the groove 28 confronts the side wall of shell 10.

Cooperating with groove 28 is a like groove 39 formed in the bottom wall of an outstanding flange 32 on each 1 Patented June 30, 1964 ice lug 18 of the hanger strips 14, the two grooves 28 and 30 being so aligned that when the lugs are engaged, as in FIG. 2, grooves 28 and'30 form an annular passage, or keyway, through the several lugs 16 and,18.. A cable, or key, :34 is threaded throughthe annularpassage provided by grooves 28and 3t), thuslocking the pairs of lugs 16 and 18 together. This cable may be continuous about the shell periphery or it may be in shorter sections. In order to enable the cable to be introduced into the lug passage provided by groovesZS andQ3t), at least one lug '18, or better, three or four at spaced points about the indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 5.

In the use of this device, the mount ring 12, with its depending fingers, is passed upwardly overthe pressure shell 10 until the T -shaped ends ofthe fingers are just below.the bottom of lugs 15. Thelugs 18 .on the ends of the finger strips 14 arenormally slightly biasedinward by the resilienceof the strips14 so that they tendtohug the side walls of shell 10. By a slight rotation of the mount ring relative to shell 10, the strips 14 will enter between lugs 16 .on the shell and, as the ring is raised slightly, the 'extension24, 26 of lugs 18 willseat against the bottoms 23 of grooves .22. The reactor shell is now supported in all directions, except that it can be lifted vertically. With the adjacent pairs of reactorlugs 16 resting on the extensions 24 and 26 of lugs 16, the base portion of grooves 28 and 30 are in register so that the cable 34 can be threaded through them.

As a result of this invention it will beevident that the gravity load of the .reactor is carried in tension by the fingers, or strips, 14 and ispassed through them intothe mount ring 12. by the fiingersand .passed into the mount ring. Any small upload that the reactormight experience is taken into the fingers by shearon the circumferential cable and passed to themount :ring. It will .also beevident that the use of the hanger strips or fingers, and the circumferential wire, as fasteners, takes up-much less space and requires less material than a comparable system of conventional bolts andflanges.

While only one-embodiment of the-invention-has been without departingfrorn the scope. of the inventionas de fined in the following claims.

We claim: 7

1. In combination, a pressure casing having a side wall, a mount ring having in general the same peripheral shape as said side wall, means for supporting said casing from said ring including a plurality of peripherally spaced lugs fixed to said side wall and a plurality of hanger strips depending from said ring, each having a lug at its free end which is receivable between a pair of adjacent lugs on said casing, said strip-carried lugs having left and right extensions at their lower extremities on which said casing-carried lugs are adapted to rest.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which the casing carried lugs have dependent flanges at their lower ends which are spacedfrorn the side wall of said casing sufficiently to form a groove in which the extensions of said strip-carried lugs are received.

3. The combination of claim 2 in which the stripcarried lugs and the casing-carried lugs have registering keyways formed therein, and a cable is threaded through said keyways to prevent upward displacement of said casing relative to said mount ring. I

4. In combination, a pressure casing having a side wall, a mount ring having the same peripheral shape as said side wall, means for supporting said casing from said Reactor sideloads are carried inward ring including a plurality of peripherally spaced hanger strips depending from said ring about said side wall, said strips having lugs at their free ends, cooperating lugs carried by said side wall, and key means cooperating with said strip-carried and casing-carried lugs for locking said casing against upward displacement relative to said strips.

5. In combination, a pressure casing having a side wall, a mount ring having the same peripheral shape as said side wall, means for supporting said casing from said ring including a plurality of peripherally spaced hanger strips depending from said ring about said side wall, said strips having lugs at their free ends provided with lateral extensions, spaced lugs carried by said side wall adapted,

to enter into the spaces between said strip-carried lugs and rest upon the extensions thereof, and key means cooperating with said strip-carried and said casing-carried lugsfor locking said casing against upward displacement off said extensions.

6. In combination, a pressure casing having a side wall, a mount ring surrounding said casing having the same peripheral shape as said side wall, a plurality of lugs secured to said side wall in spaced relation about the periphery thereof, a plurality of hanger strips secured at their upper ends to said mount ring and depending alongside thevside wall of said casing, said strips having lugs at their lower ends receivable between the lugs on said casing, said casing-carried lugs having downwardly facing grooves at their lower ends, and said strip-carried lugs having lateral extensions receivable in grooves of adjacent casing-carried lugs, and means for interlocking said casing-carried lugs and said strip-carried lugs against relative vertical movement.

7. In combination, a pressure casing having a side wall, a mount ring surrounding said casing having the same peripheral shape as said side wall, a plurality 'of lugs secured to said side wall in spaced relation about the periphery thereof, a plurality of hanger strips secured at their upper ends to said mount ring and depending alongside the side wall of said casing, said strips being spaced about the periphery of said ring and aligned with the spaces between said casing lugs, each strip having a lug at its lower end receivable between a pair of adjacent lugs on said casing side wall, said casing-carried lugs having depending flanges spaced from said side wall forming downwardly facing grooves, and said strip-carried lugs having lateral extensions receivable in grooves of adjacent casing-carried lugs,-said casing-carried lugs each having a generally horizontal cable-receiving slot, and means on said strip-carried lugs operative when the extensions thereof are seated in said grooves for preventing displacement of a cable from said slots.

8. In combination, a pressure casing having a side wall, a mount ring surrounding said casing having the same peripheral shape as said side wall, a plurality of lugs secured to said side wall in spaced relation about the periphery thereof, a plurality of hanger strips secured at their upper ends to said mount ring and depending alongside the side Wall of said casing, said strips being spaced about the periphery of said ring and aligned with the spaces between said casing lugs, each strip having a lug at its lower end receivable between a pair of adjacent lugs on said casing side wall, said casing-carried lugs having depending flanges spaced from said side wall forming downwardly facing grooves, and said strip-carried lugs having lateral extensions receivable in grooves of adjacent casing-carried lugs, said casing-carried lugs each having an upstanding portion provided with a generally horizontal cable-receiving slot, said strip-carried lugs each having a generally vertical cable-receiving slot, the slots in saidcasing-carried lugs and said strip-carried lugs registering when said extensions are seated in said grooves to define a cable-receiving passage through said lugs.

9. In combination, a casing having a side wall, a mount ring surrounding said casing having a peripheral shape corresponding to the peripheral shape of said side wall, a plurality of lugs secured to said side wall in spaced relation about the periphery thereof, a plurality of resilient hanger strips supported at their upper ends by said 'mount ring and depending alongside the side walls of said casing, said strips each having a lug at its free end receivable between a pair of adjacent casing-carried lugs, said casing-carried lugs forming downwardly facing grooves with said casing and said strip-carried lugs having left and right extensions receivable in the grooves of adjacent lugs, and said casing-carried lugs and said stripcarried lugs having angularly related slots which register whenever said extensions are seated in said grooves to form a peripheral passage, and a cable receivable in said passage for locking said casing-carried lugs against upward displacement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 275,894 Detterer Apr. 17, 1883 1,492,443 Francis Apr. 29, 1924 2,140,442 Clark Dec. 13, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 787,194 Great Britain Dec. 4, 1957 

1. IN COMBINATION, A PRESSURE CASING HAVING A SIDE WALL, A MOUNT RING HAVING IN GENERAL THE SAME PERIPHERAL SHAPE AS SAID SIDE WALL, MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID CASING FROM SAID RING INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF PERIPHERALLY SPACED LUGS FIXED TO SAID SIDE WALL AND A PLURALITY OF HANGER STRIPS DEPENDING FROM SAID RING, EACH HAVING A LUG AT ITS FREE 